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Rick Brennan, Jr.

Education

Ph.D. in political science/international relations, University of California, Los Angeles; M.S. in political science/international relations, University of California, Los Angeles; B.S. in criminal justice, Arizona State University

Overview

Rick Brennan is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and a career Army officer with high-level Department of Defense experience on issues relating to the war in Iraq, conflict resolution, homeland defense, and strategic planning. Since 2006 he has served in successive positions in Iraq to include supporting MNF-I/USF-I as the RAND team leader for the Joint Interagency Task Force-Iraq (JIATF-I) and as the senior advisor to the USF-I Director of Operations (J3). Starting in 2016 he served as the lead strategy and policy subject matter expert working on the Iraq Defense Governance Management Team (DGMT). He has conducted significant research and analysis on the transition from military operations to civilian control in Iraq between 2003 and 2012. He has led and participated in several other RAND studies related to homeland security, homeland defense, and military transformation.

Prior to joining RAND, Brennan served as a program manager directing projects related to the Revolution in Military Affairs for OSD (Net Assessment). He is a former Army officer, who, in addition to infantry command and staff positions, spent six years in positions related to national security and defense policy, including two years working within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and three years serving as an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy. A decorated officer, Brennan received the Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal (3 awards), and the Army Commendation Medal. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from UCLA.

Commentary

The recent increase of sectarian terrorism is best understood as a product of the ancient Sunni-Shiite divide, the growth of modern-day extremist groups, the Iranian-Saudi rivalry, and the growing phenomenon of fractured states.

Publications

Summarizes a classified five-volume report on the planning and execution of operations in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM through June 2004. Recommends changes to Army plans, operational concepts, doctrine, and Title 10 functions.

This book looks at the planning and execution of the U.S. military's exit from Iraq and the transition of responsibilities to the Iraqi government, U.S. embassy, Office of Security Cooperation, USCENTCOM, and other U.S. departments and agencies.

This brief outlines policy and planning lessons that have been encapsulated in a study of the U.S. military's transition out of Iraq at the end of 2011 and the handover of property and responsibilities to Embassy Baghdad and the government of Iraq.

Given the potential but undefined threat posed to the U.S. homeland by terrorists, the Army needs to decide whether it should hedge against the risk of not being adequately prepared. RAND researchers posed five plausible scenarios and potential Army ...

Surveys RAND research conducted since Sept. 11, 2001, that examines the dimensions of the terrorist threat and potential responses to it, and issues such as global priorities, oversees deployments, homeland security, and state and local initiatives.

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